


Someone To Talk To

by Vaporslash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Keith is lonely, Lance is a mermaid, M/M, also made of fire, only rating this teen and up because of swearing, they are both really rude to each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-08-08 07:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7749424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaporslash/pseuds/Vaporslash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith has spent all of his life living alone on an island in the middle of the ocean. Lance has spent his whole life in the reef around the island, listening to stories about a man made out of a living fire. Now because of a dare, Lance finds himself in hot water, and Keith finds a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Keith had been alone on this island for as long as he could remember. He remembers getting shot out of the volcano that formed the island and watching the forest burn. It rained that night and he remembered the pain of every droplet that landed on his, well he guessed he could call it skin? Honestly, he wasn’t sure what terminology he should use for himself and no one else was around to explain what exactly he was so he left it at that. All he knew for sure was that there were no other sentient beings on the island itself.

It wouldn’t even be so bad if he could actually explore the entire place. Unfortunately, when you’re made entirely out of fire you can’t really go near anything remotely flammable without ruining everything. To make things worse he couldn’t go out into the water either; the bright colorful coral reef that surrounded the island taunts him every single day and it pisses him off to no end. God, the worst part is he could see that stupid school of merfolk that took up residence at the reef. They were so damn close, close enough to see but way the hell out of earshot.

He would find himself coming closer and closer to the ocean every day, just hoping that maybe he could find a way to talk to one of them. He never gets their attention and he gets so frustrated that he flares up enough to turn the sand beneath his feet to glass. The only time he was calm near the ocean was during low tide; the ocean would retreat, leaving tons of tide pools and Keith could actually look at wildlife without having to worry about accidentally burning it to a crisp. It was his favorite part of the day, just wandering from pool to pool.

That’s exactly what Keith was doing when he met Lance for the first time. He’d been cutting it pretty close that day when he found Lance; the tide was coming in and Keith almost decided to turn back.

That was until he heard some rather choice expletives coming from further down the beach. Keith felt his heart skip a beat. Sure the voice he heard didn’t sound happy, but the fact that there was a voice at all had him sprinting as fast as he could towards the source. He skidded to a halt in front of a large tide pool and had to do a double take.

There was a merman stuck inside of the pool, human half trying to drag himself out but not finding any luck. Keith couldn’t help but stare; he’d never seen a merman up close before, and he was very nice to look at. Shimmering blue scales, flowing fins that moved gracefully underwater despite the merman’s thrashing, his skin looked smooth and soft, fading into the scales of the tail. What the hell? Keith felt himself flare up and oh no he was too bright and oh no now that pretty merman was turning around and oh. Oh god, those eyes were so magnificent and Keith really should say something because he’s still staring.

So he says what anyone could think to say when faced with a handsome merman would say. “Uh, hi?” nailed it, flawless execution. Well could you blame him? It wasn’t like Keith was used to talking to anything that could talk back. Not mention the fact that the merman was really very pretty… Until said merman decided to open his big, fat mouth.

“What the hell are you staring at flame for brains?” Okay gorgeous or not, this guy is annoying, what the hell was his problem?

“Wow sorry fish butt, I just wasn’t expecting someone to be stupid enough to get stuck in a tide pool.” Ha wow, Keith was on fire if you’d pardon the pun. Man, even when this guy was offended he looked amazing it just wasn’t fair.

“ _Fish butt?_ I-” He exclaimed indignantly. The merman paused to let out a way too dramatic scoff for Keith’s taste. “Uh the name’s Lance, and I do not have a fish butt!” Lance shrieked out the last part and Keith visibly cringed. When he recovered he just rolled his eyes.

“Well Lance, my name’s Keith and your butt definitely looks like it belongs to a giant fish. So yes, you do in fact, have a fish butt.” Oh man, Lance looked even cuter when he was angry. His face was flushed bright red and when his nose scrunched up like that it was hard for Keith to stifle his laughter.

“Hey! Does this butt belong to a fish? No! It’s mine and therefore is not a fish butt. And at least my butt isn’t on fire!” Lance was yelling at this point and honestly now, that was enough butt talk.

“Okay, okay you don’t have a fish butt. That doesn’t mean you aren’t stupid for getting stuck in a tide pool.” Keith shot back.

“I’ll have you know that I’m here because of you!” Lance blurted out.

“What.” It was more of a statement than a question but Keith had a hard time understanding. Lance was here because of him? How did he even know about Keith in the first place? Had Lance been watching Keith the whole time as well? He felt his face get warmer and Lance was still talking and Keith wasn’t paying attention. “-Not you exactly, I just mean that I knew that someone was on this island but my little brother didn’t believe me. He totally bet me that no one lives here and there’s no way I’m losing a bet, man! So I swam up as close as I could to see what was here and then I guess I fell asleep?” Lance just kept rambling on and on.

Okay so he hadn’t seen him, that was a little disappointing but Keith should have expected as much. Oh but Lance knew about him now and sure he was annoying but damn it Lance was attractive and he could talk, and wasn’t that what Keith had wanted for so long?

“Hey! Are you even listening? God, you ask what I’m doing here and you won’t even pay attention! What’s your deal?” Lance yelled.

God damn it. “I am listening, you jerk! You got stuck here because you’re too competitive and you can’t even have enough common sense to keep an eye on the tide!“ Keith shot back. Then, as if the universe seemed to hate Keith in particular, the surf swept in and hit his feet. Keith stumbled as the water sucked the heat straight out of him. He scrambled away from the water, howling in pain as he did.

“Whoa man, you okay?” Lance questioned gently. Keith turned to see Lance’s expression soft and concerned. Yeah, that was definitely a good look on the merman, too bad it was overshadowed by the fact that Keith was still in pain and needed to get back to his volcano and replenish his heat.

“I’ll be fine but I have to get out of here,” Keith answered, grunting as he got up and limped off.

“Hey! Don’t leave I’m not done with you yet!” Lance was shouting again, “Look I’ll be back tomorrow. See that cave down the beach? Be there so we can finish what we started!”  
Keith gave him a small wave of acknowledgement and suppressed a shiver of excitement. Lance would be back tomorrow; Keith would have someone to talk to. Sure Lance was a little annoying but Keith could get used to it.

As he made his way back up the volcano he thought to himself, ‘ _Maybe things are starting to look up, after all_ ,’ he would just have to wait and see. The last thing Keith could remember before he threw himself into the volcano and drifted off to sleep was the cave Lance was yelling about before Keith left. He’d have to remember to go there once the tide was out.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith could hardly contain his excitement when he finally woke up the next morning. Today he was going see Lance again. As Keith began to head down to the beach once more he thought about how the conversation would go. Lance had been arguing with him when had to leave, so would he still be mad? Keith certainly wasn’t angry at Lance, after putting some thought into why Lance had been acting that way.

It’s only natural to be cranky if you wake up finding yourself trapped somewhere isn’t it? Yes that made perfect sense, and Keith found himself feeling guilty for calling Lance stupid and annoying. He had made up his mind that he would apologize as soon as he made it down to the cave.  
It seemed, however, that this would be a poor plan as no one was in the cave when he arrived. Lance never actually told Keith a specific time to meet besides just saying tomorrow.

How long would Keith have to wait, or had Lance already come and gone? From the position of the sun it must have already been noon so it was entirely possible. Damn it, why did the beach have to be so far from his home?

Keith forced himself to calm down and sat on the cave floor near the water, it was already high tide so he should be safe to sit for a while. Maybe Lance hadn’t even left yet, after all Keith never really saw the merfolk active until well into the afternoon.

Yes, that must be the reason no one was here in the cave and he would just have to wait. So he did, for a considerable amount of time, until the sun had passed from overhead and as it began its descent, Keith had drifted off to sleep.

He woke up to a pebble hitting him in the face and a familiar voice telling him to wake up. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see it was getting dark already, had he really slept all day?

“Hey, are you gonna keep staring off into space or what?” Lance snapped at him. Keith lowered his eyes from the ever darkening sky outside down to the water and locked eyes with the merman. Man he looked annoyed, was he really still mad about yesterday?

“Um, sorry? You just took so long to show up I guess I’m a little out of it.” Keith replied quietly. Oh, that may not have been the right thing to say, Lance still looked mad. Keith really wished Lance wasn’t mad, or at least not at him.

“But where were you? I waited all day and you just didn’t show. I thought you forgot I was even here.” Keith said dejectedly. With that Lances’ features softened a bit and he spoke gently, “I didn’t forget about you, it’s just hard to get away from the reef without everyone noticing is all.”

Keith perked up a bit at the statement, and was reminded what he had planned to say to Lance in the first place. “I’m, um, I’m sorry I called you stupid, and said you had a fish butt. I didn’t mean it, I just, don’t know how to talk to people.” he said sincerely.

Lance was physically taken aback by this, “What do you mean you don’t know how to talk to people?” he asked incredulously. Keith shrugged, “I just don’t, it’s not like I’ve had anyone to talk to before, there isn’t anyone else on the island.” At that Lance gave him the most pitiful look that Keith couldn’t fight back the tightening in his chest nor could he stop from flaring up brighter.

“No one? Not a single person?” Lance asked in a small voice, eyes starting to water a bit.  
God, no one should look that cute when they’re about to cry. Lance’s bottom lip was trembling and he had pulled himself half out of the water to be at eye level. “I think that’s the saddest thing anyone has ever said to me. You’ve been all alone out here your whole life?” Lance asked with a now wobbly voice.

“Yes, but I saw your kind out by the reef all the time. I tried calling out but I guess none of you could hear me.” Keith said softly, eyes cast down.  
Lance let out a sad whimper, “Being alone is the worst feeling in the world, how could you even manage on your own.” he asked as he began to reach out to put a hand on Keith’s.

He was most likely trying to comfort Keith but all he managed to do was freak out the poor boy. “Don’t touch me!” Keith shouted as he backed away quickly and cringed at the hurt look on Lance's’ face.

“I’m sorry I was just-” Lance began to explain with tears in his eyes before Keith cut him off. “It’s not your fault! Please don’t cry, it’s not because of you I swear.” Oh god it was only his second time meeting Lance and he already made the merman cry.

“I just, can’t touch you, or anything else really. I’d give you awful burns if I did. I'm sorry, I’m really sorry don’t cry. Why are you still crying?” Keith tried to sound comforting but it really didn’t seem to be working.

“No, you don’t understand that’s even worse! You can’t touch anything ever? That’s awful, it’s just terrible.” Lance wailed.

“I don’t mind it so much, it’s okay. You don’t have to be upset, it doesn’t bother me.” Keith said gently, scooting closer to the edge.

Lance sniffled, but seemed to be calming down, “It’s still really sad though, you really burn everything you touch?” he asked looking back up at Keith.

Lance was going to be the death of Keith, he really was. How could someone feel so deeply like that all the time, and he looked so sad that if Keith could, he’d probably be crying too.  
Keith slowly sat back down once he was sure Lance wasn’t going to start up the waterworks again. “Um, well, not everything I touch, just stuff that can burn. So it’s not all bad, I get to come down here and enjoy the view and all that.” He explained not taking his eyes away from Lance’s face the whole time, trying to judge his mood.

Lance wasn’t looking at him though, his eyes cast down into the water, and he seemed contemplative. After a while he spoke, “Well, I guess, that’s not too bad. But then, you can’t even collect anything pretty with you, like all those flowers and things on the island. What do collect then? Rocks?” Lance queried.

What the hell was he talking about? “What do you mean? Why would I collect things?” Keith asked, with a very confused expression.

“Why would you-? Why wouldn’t you collect things? Don’t you want stuff to look at when you’re stuck at home and you can’t leave?” Lance sputtered, waving his hands around wildly.  
Keith just tilted his head, “I live in a volcano, I can’t bring things with me even if I wanted to, that’s why I come down here all the time.” he replied.

Lance’s stared at Keith like he had grown a second head. “You live in a volcano?” he squawked. Keith found himself becoming more and more embarrassed by the minute, he wasn’t that strange was he?

“Well, yeah, it’s the safest place for me to be so,” Keith trailed off as he noticed a faint blue glow in the cave. The sun had gone down a while ago and it was dark save for the light that Keith gave off but he noticed that he wasn’t the only one emitting light.

He forced himself to calm down and dim, as he did so the blue glow grew brighter. “Keith? What’s wrong?” Lance finally asked, drawing Keith’s attention once again.

When he finally looked back to Lance he jerked back in surprise. Lance was the one giving off the light, his eyes were faintly glowing and he looked worried. Keith looked further down and saw that their were glowing stripes going down the sides of his tail.

“You-. Lance, you’re glowing.” Keith said bluntly.

Lance flushed and flicked his tail stirring up the sand below him, dimming the glow a bit. “Well, yeah I mean you are too. What’s the big deal?” Lance mumbled.

“But I’m made of fire, of course I glow! Why are you glowing?” Keith exclaimed.

Lance sunk lower into the water, flustered. “I just do okay, my whole family does it’s just a thing that happens. How else am I supposed to see in the dark?” he blurted out.

Keith took pause at that, well it would make a little bit of sense but it still was so strange. What was making him glow in the first place? The light didn’t flicker like his did, it was a steady and strong blue, as calming as it was odd. It even seemed to attract fish, they flitted this way and that around him, their silvery scales reflecting the light.

He must have been making a face or something because Lance huffed and flushed a darker red, obviously embarrassed. “Well if it’s so weird to you then I’m leaving. I don’t have to sit here and be insulted.” he sneered and turned to dive into the water.

That got Keith’s attention. “Wait no! I wasn’t making fun of you, I was just curious.” he called.

Lance stopped but didn’t turn around, giving Keith a chance to explain himself.  
“I’ve just never seen anything like it, I don’t think it’s dumb or anything. It’s really pretty actually!” he slapped his hand over his mouth.

Shit, why did he have to go and say that, he didn’t even know if it was weird to say something like that to a near stranger. Oh god what if it was? What if just freaked Lance out so much he would just leave and never come back? What if-?

“You think the glow is pretty?” Lance’s whispered, looking up at Keith wide-eyed and strikingly beautiful in the dark. “Of course I do. How could I not?” Keith responded, voice coming out in a squeak.

Lance smiled at him and Keith’s heart skipped a beat. “No one has ever said that to me before.” Lance murmured, looking up at him bashfully.

Looking more closely, Keith could see that Lance had a splash of glowing spots on his cheeks as well and Keith flared up bright, sure that his brain was short circuiting.

Lance opened his mouth to say something else but suddenly went still, head tilting out towards the ocean. “Oh, man how long have I been out here?” he yelped, face going pale. He turned back to Keith, “I really need to go I think my mom might be looking for me. But I can come back tomorrow if you want?”

Keith nodded with a little more excitement than he probably should have shown but could you blame him.  
“Yeah, I want. I mean, I’d like that, yes.” he said, mentally slapping himself.

He really needed to work on thinking before he just let anything come out of his mouth.  
Lance giggled and waved goodbye before swimming back out to the reef, leaving Keith to wander back home in a daze.

What a day it had been and Keith could hardly get to sleep that night just thinking about Lance and how he actually wanted to see Keith again tomorrow. However, when he finally did manage to drift off, he was happier than he had been in his whole life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I couldn't find a beta reader for this chapter so I've gone over it three times. If anything is wrong with it please let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I can. Hope you all liked this chapter either way!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so wow, this was the first fic I've ever written and boy I am going to try and improve on the next chapter. I really hope you guys like it!


End file.
